James' Army Reform
In the Beginning Before James fell from his power throughout the Spanish Main, his army was divided into 3 sections; non—officers, veterans, and officers. Non—Officers Non—officers were the least well-trained of the army. They took 6 months each to fully train. They were paid 50 gold a week, which is half of what a veteran was paid. The non—officers lacked a notable or decorative uniform. They were often used to take care of rebellious populaces, such as in captured cities; to fortified cities as well, to enforce the law. When war broke out they were used in the majority of the prominent battles. They were rendered useless, divided in small groups, and therefore they had to be amassed into large groups of around 500 to swarm enemy positions. They were armed with outdated weapons such as the harquebus, and some (if they could afford it; it cost a pretty penny) could purchase a cutlass. Many of them looted weapons off of the corpses of enemy soldiers. During winters the non—officers were also a very hard-to-maintain force, and, more often than not, many of them deserted their posts, and their numbers started to drop. Disloyal bands of men often mutinied when onboard their naval vessels. And, dreading the heat blazing down on them, during the summer they were often caught out in the heat when facing enemy cavalry. The final known existing regiment of non—officers was dissolved a period of 3 years ago. Veterans Veterans where well trained soldiers and where equipped for many different types of weather. They where payed twice the amount as the none officers, 100 gold a week, and where often used to push through strong enemy positions, and to support the none officer part of the army. Veterans where the biggest part of the army, and theyre duties stretched from policing to frontline battles. They where each equipped with the latest weapons possible, and they copied the scarlet colour of the English Redcoats, and the where drilled in a similar way, they where also equppied with the same weapons as the Redcoats, at one time it was hard to tell the Veterans from the Redcoats, and theyre uniforms wher echanged to a light Shade of blue. Veterans where a match for any european army, alot of armies surrendered before going into battle, as they feared that if they lost the veterans would not spare any prisoners, as they where trained to kill whole armies without showing mercy, if theyre commander wished. The veterans never surrendered and alot of theyre officers woul dhave killed them selves if defeat was near. If a veteran had deserted and was found he was given two choices, 1. to try and escape through a bog whislt some others shot at him. 2. to face the firing squad. Officers Officers were the most trained, decorated, and disciplined men in James' army and they were leaders of squadrons and regiments of non—officers as well as veterans. Officers faced the task of training their soldiers (many of them fresh recruits who had not yet seen combat), managing their pay (which, more often than not, they never received) and controlling what type of training they would get and were ready for. If an officer was wealthy or came from a line of nobles, he would be given a test which, if passed, would lead to the construction of a barracks built for his men or apply for a higher rank. Officers wore green pettycoats, and were often positioned behind their men. Officers were also expected to straight into battle on the front lines alongside their troops, if it came down to it.